A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Thursday Notes for May 30, 2002

A Factsheet from the Division of Adult Education and Literacy
Office of Vocational and Adult EducationEdited by Sarah Newcomb

Talk to Us About Reauthorization

Notice of our public meetings on reauthorization, scheduled for June 3 and 4 in Michigan and Missouri respectively, appeared May 28 in the Federal Register. So far, we have a lot of folks who want to attend as "observers" but have not signed up to express their views. We want to hear from you and it's not too late to contact us at amie.amiot@ed.gov to register for time to express your concerns. Also, please be aware that additional public meetings will be held in California and North Carolina in August. The exact dates, times, and locations of these meetings still are to be determined.

CA Officials Testify on Supplanting

State Director Mary Weaver, along with State Administrator for Adult Education Kathy Block-Brown and Deputy for Governmental Affairs Terri Burnes testified before the state Assembly Budget Committee last week that California may be supplanting state spending with federal adult education funds if a current budget proposal is approved. The witnesses also addressed other reasons why the proposed action would not be consistent with AEFLA. The California legislature wants to move $5M of adult education funds from the adult education state grant program administered by the California Department of Education (CDE) to support naturalization services run by the California Department of Community Services and Development (DCSD). The proposed budget for the DCSD has been reduced by $5.7 million of state funding, and the proposal is to offset that reduction with AEFLA funds. At a prior hearing, the subcommittee heard the Governor's proposal for reductions in citizenship funding. You can e-mail Mary Weaver.

NGA Survey Says States Chopping Funds

More than 40 states, the highest number ever, are being hit with a $40 to $50 billion budget shortfall in FY 2002, says a new National Governors' Association (NGA) Fiscal Survey of States. To plug their budget gaps, 26 states used across-the-board cuts, 22 used their rainy day funds, 11 laid off employees, ten reorganized programs, three used early retirement, and 33 used a variety of other methods, the survey found. At least 11 states have had to call special legislative sessions to deal with their budget problems. The NGA predicts that as the economy turns around, the state budget forecast will remain uncertain since revenue growth lags recovery by at least 12 to 18 months. State spending for adult education cannot be reduced below 90% of previous years' without reducing the federal amount available for the state. See http://www.nga.org

La Pointe New DHSPCE Director

Richard La Pointe joins OVAE this week as Director of our Division of High School, Postsecondary and Career Education, Assistant Secretary Carol D'Amico announced recently. He will serve as principal program advisor to the Office of the Assistant Secretary on matters related to high school, postsecondary and career education programs. La Pointe has held a wide range of positions in the Department and worked for the Deputy Secretary prior to joining us. He also has served as president of a major nonprofit literacy organization, and Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Just for the record, he has nine children. Welcome, Richard!

Shop Talk June 6

Now that we're back from the Charleston meeting, Shop Talk reconvenes on June 6.